Stephen Fry on The Internet

Prepare for the internet of the future, or face the worst of science fiction's predictions: comedian, actor, writer and Hay Festival president Stephen Fry sets out his argument for how and why we should reform our World Wide Web, part of our 30 Reformations series.
Our 30th anniversary coincided with the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his Theses to the door at Wittenberg. So we invited international thinkers at our festivals around the world to propose their reformations of institutions and authorities, re-imagining the world.
You can watch the full hour-long event, including the Q&A with BBC Click's Spencer Kelly over on our Hay Player now: www.hayfestival.com/hayplayer/
We'll be releasing other reformations daily from now to the end of the year - subscribe and be the first to see them.

[@JohnKooz]

The speech wasn't meant to be poetry, but it felt like it; Stephen Fry is so eloquent and articulate. Loved this!

[@thenodfather7790]

Never underestimate the power of hateful people in large numbers. Stephen's view was a beautiful one, but sadly, humanity happened.

[@billyb6001]

I think it's been a positive thing overall.

[@raewynurwin4256]

@@billyb6001 I agree however I can become rather disquieted with comments that are just heinous. I have the choice to not read but continue on thus find some sparks of genius and human kindness.This viewing of online debate has enabled my own internal dialogue and yes at times shown myself to myself, I too have potential for malevolence, just haven't done it yet keeps me humble.

[@billyb6001]

@@raewynurwin4256 just keep the demons in you in check, don't chase the dragon down the hole, and ignore the trolls because they turn to stone by daylight.

[@samirmatar8794]

great speaker, great thinker 👍💯

[@43painter]

Great to hear him speak! The end was a bit abrupt, wasn't it? One might expect a part 2 ! Let's find out if there's a part 2 of this marvelous speech!

[@PeronuPeric-wm9hx]

What a brilliant man.

[@sharkamov]

Listening to the voice of Stephen Fry, always puts me in mind of the term coined by the American philosopher Richard Rorty - ''The Final Vocabulary''. - Rorty goes on to purport that:

[@sjenner76]

There’s no free lunch. We live and die by compromise. The internet and social media are a reflection of the human soul. And it can be wonderful and terrible.

[@Ian.Does.Fitness]

Very interesting! So well put forth by Mr Fry! And very chilling too! 😳

[@Gipsi711]

Yah absolutely amazing.. Just look at computers nowadays.. most young people have no idea how it all started and how fast it grew.. I was lucky to have entered the computer area in early 1960 when the CPU was a big monster as big as a VW camper and the hard disk the size of a washing machine and inputs were cumbersome. .and the capacity smaller than todays handphones.. and the speed equal to a bemo.. The frightening question what will happen if it OVERTAKES us..🤔😏😏

[@sabinrawr]

@HayFestival: For Stephen (if this could get to him): the ridiculous name of Cortana is not unlike the normal-sounding but equally arbitrary naming of Alexa. Alexa was a website ranking service that predates the sophistication of Google's PageRank. In 1999, the service was acquired by Amazon (and now exists as a marketing solutions platform). Amazon, now holding a strong trademark to the Alexa name, used it for its voice-actuated Echo device (I own one, it's so cool). Similarly, "Cortana" was the name of the primary AI assistant built in to the protagonist's helmet in the video game Halo, produced by Bungee for the Xbox console, which in turn was sold by Microsoft. Much like Amazon's move to reuse an existing piece of intellectual property as the brand of its new offering, Microsoft repurposed the Cortana trademark for its voice assistant in Windows 10. Please keep up the great work! The world is better for it!

[@FoxyCAMTV]

Internet saved my life and many other people I know, it filled the gaps in my knowledge and changed my attitude towards many things, without it I would have lost my mind.

[@aleksandaraleksic4067]

You have just persuaded yourself in that. Mental disorders have been treated before internet.

[@rockysandman5489]

@@aleksandaraleksic4067 Surely, mental disorders weren't treated as well back then, some were not even diagnosed. Why, before the internet, many mental disorders that are known to us nowadays have been unheard of.

[@the_Rade]

People did that with books before internet

[@Bodragon]

Moore's law is the observation that the number of transistors in a dense integrated circuit doubles about every two years, not eighteen months, as Stephen suggests. The period is often quoted as 18 months because of Intel executive David House, who predicted that chip performance would double every 18 months (being a combination of the effect of more transistors and the transistors being faster).

[@FutureAbe]

Bodragon No

[@mikeCavalle]

here we are on the eve of 2022. how ya doin?

[@benwood4416]

the internet amplifies all of humanity, the good and unfortunately the bad

[@Richard_is_cool]

I too feel that the Internet and only it has allowed me to be a much better person. Trivialities such as Twitter feuds and Facebook depression do not bother me, as I won't use those services, however, studying and expanding my horizons (learning English, which has been done wholly on this very site) have constituted a major boon in my life and its striving. Just because Russia tries to use the Internet to their benefit doesn't mean we should write off the entire invention as a new Pandora's box. I, with many others, do feel that with the Internet I can be everything and without it... Would I be banal? Or simply confined to one's own area, tongue and local library - to forever lust and never to see. I strongly feel that these problems Stephen Fry has verbalized will in retrospect seem like that kind of insignificant ramble that always comes with an invention or societal change. We should be speaking of the negatives. Yet we should not forget to see the whole.

[@blueberry7899]

I agree - every new technological advancement comes with responsibilities. We should all be responsible users of the internet and use it for positive enhancements like you've said.

[@sharkamov]

*Richard S.* I call a low blow. - I mean: _Who_ the fuck doesn't??? . . .

[@WalterLiddy]

I'd like to have seen the whole presentation. I know he loves to tell that chess parable, but actually it describes an exponential growth, not a linear one.

[@romancernjak]

wonderful speech but it didn't go anywhere?? I was expecting a point. perhaps there indeed is a no.2

[@juliusadkinsx]

Oh my god

[@FabriceNormandin95]

Moore's law is either ending now, or has ended in the past few years. Because of this, cpu makers focus on parallelism, adding more cpu cores into bigger dies

[@anthonycoca2202]

When Stephen went on for a near 12 minutes listing all the glorious prospects of what the Internet could bring, all I thought of was cats. It brought on videos of cats. Lots and LOTS of cats....

[@cmw3737]

I like the analogy to the Greek myths and wisdom and Pandora's Box (jar) that Stephen tells in a similar interview that he might have based this on: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mWGylaxjfbGpis0

[@mihaimoldo]

It's a tool mr Fry, it did bring enlightenment for those looking for it....for others It exposed their flaws and pitfalls.

[@jon780249]

‘We have past peak Trump’…that phrase has sadly not aged well.

[@tellitasitis]

Stephen Fry Dogma interprets Greek mythology and pronounces with certainty the future of long lived designer humans as imperfect as we are. Thinks Gods that he does not believe in should apologise to us. I think folk should hold peoples own thought processes and outside inputs as responsible for what they believe in and its consequences. He wonders if AI will be given what he calls the fire (dangerous to us) when AI will probably make the fire itself. I do not know the future only maybe and doubt FRY knows with certainty either. #StephenFry

[@musikSkool]

Misinformation can spread just as fast as information. What is real and what is fake? Who do you trust when you don't know anyone on the Internet? Who is to blame when you trust someone who is lying? You should really know better than to believe anything you read on the Internet.

[@WalterLiddy]

This is why I always verify. If you read a single source, you should be skeptical. If, however, you then confirm from other sources, uncertainty is reduced. One thing I usually do is search for an opposing argument to see if it appears valid. By cultivating multiple sources of varying bias, you can be pretty well informed. Of course, short of actually investigating or studying a particular subject yourself, you shouldn't claim to speak with authority on it. If people would adhere to those types of practice there'd be a lot less misinformation out there.

[@musikSkool]

@Nathan Rice I know we can't all agree on the important things, the best we can hope for is to be good to each other. Reduce crime, reduce violence. If you hear someone say something offensive about your strongly held beliefs, don't attack them, tell them they are wrong, but if you attack them you are not reducing the violence in the world. I'd rather have a peaceful world where half the people believe in the tooth fairy than one where people are brutally assaulted for believing that God will come back someday and deal with all the troublemakers. Believe what you want to, but, no fighting.

[@kantraxoikol6914]

thought of this years ago, what if your username actually had to be your REAL name and location, you'd damn well bet the trolls would scurry like cockroaches then. if you want a voice you have to register to use the web, there's no hiding who you are so you can spread hate and lies. . . because now we can see you. we know where you are. you can be held accountable for your actions like any other venue. if you want to insult someone, you should have the balls to at least not hide behind a username "myhairybollocks" etc

[@rabokarabekian409]

Jolly stimulating, so like "The Internet" (meaning the web) and also as is the web: almost completely devoid of the musty taint of scholasticism.

[@LordVictorHalgaard]

He'd become too detached from reality - He'd forgotten what real 'humans' are, as opposed to the idealised machinations and caricatures of idolised authors.

[@sudhirchopde3334]

Garbage in ....g out!

[@mamas_quilts3573]

So...Stephen! 😁 you like Trump, yes? 😂